AN: Check the first chapter for disclaimers

I'm sorry about the long absence, but real life goes on. I've had a lot of personal stuff going on and my job keeps me occupied for long periods of time so I've had less opportunity to work on my extracurricular writing projects. That being said I'll continue to maintain my policy of writing ahead and only update here once I'm about 10 chapters ahead.

Since you all are getting this chapter now, it's easy to guess what progress I've made. Unfortunately, my beta seemed to have gone AWOL recently, and I hope he's back soon. However, he has already checked and corrected a few more chapters after this, so for now only my schedule and progress will affect the upload rate.

Hoping to see you again soon, 1saaa.

Now to the story…

The throuple of Helen, Cedric, and Hermione enjoyed the rest of the holidays in each other's company. By the time they had to leave for school, they knew that their relationship worked and that they liked their new chemistry. Helen had also marked both of them with the Helenium flower tattoo, the sign of her inner circle. Cedric had received his on his chest like Colin before him and Hermione now had the artwork on her side waist, just like Padma, bringing the total number of her most trusted followers to four.

Helen, however, had noticed something over the last few days. Whenever she had slept with both her lovers, she had felt energised, something she hadn't felt before with anyone else, including both Cedric and Hermione individually. At first, she had thought it was just because of her happiness of becoming a triad but the phenomena only occurred when they had sex. Neither of her lovers had the same experience. All they felt was satisfaction and soreness. So Helen wondered what was happening and was going to conduct experiments to see if she could replicate it.

On the first night back, Helen had invited Robert to her bed. She hadn't actually had full intercourse with anyone apart from Cedric and Hermione until now, but it was only a coincidence that had prevented it. As she rode him to their mutual release, Helen cast a spell onto herself and observed the readings. Indeed, there was an increase in her magic reserves, however, it was quite negligible and that was why she had not realised about it before. She guessed that having more than one partner would have multiplied the increase, making it noticeable. But that didn't explain how and why it was happening. Was it a side-effect of one of the rituals she had performed? Or something else?

For the next week, Helen spent all her free time working on the arithmancy of all the rituals she had performed. Only after looking at the two specific rituals in combination did Helen find the source of her ability. The two rituals she had modified, first the mesoamerican body strengthening ritual by replacing Re'em's blood with Troll blood and, second the virgin sacrificial ritual she had modified to change the sacrifice to the man, were causing the change. They, in combination, had given her some kind of veela and succubus physiology, because of which she could now absorb energy from her lovers. Thankfully, it wasn't as potent as that of a succubus who ended up sucking the life force of their lovers, though Helen hadn't actively tried to take energy during intercourse, and neither was Helen as dependent on sex as a Veela was. Veela actually needed a sexual release from time to time otherwise their avian form would take over and ride a hapless victim to their death. Helen wondered if one of such ritual modifications ended up creating the first veela from the harpies.

Now that Helen knew the origins of her new ability, which she had named Ardor, Helen wondered what all she could do with it. The answer, as she found out, was not much. Apart from gaining small energy through intercourse, she had not gained any other abilities of veela. She had no allure or ethereal beauty of the veela or the ability to change into an avian form. Though Helen had hypothesized that the ability to turn avian actually came from the original species from which veela are supposed to be descended, the harpy.

Helen wasn't disappointed by that, as turning into a harpy-like creature wasn't a plus point in her book. And she could already throw fireballs from her hands and fly without sprouting wings. She would have loved to gain the allure, but not the ethereal beauty. While Helen enjoyed being the center of attention, having everyone's eyes on her all the time would have made being discreet impossible. However, she wasn't done experimenting with her new ability and would continue to do so to find out the extent she could exploit it. Also, experimenting with this particular ability was very enjoyable.

There was something else that Helen had discovered, something that she had not anticipated. The modified ritual that she had carried out with Lockhart's sacrifice had another unforeseen consequence. It had taken away her ability to bear children. Helen felt a deep loss when she found out, which confused her because she never had wanted to have children and she wasn't the caring type. She rationalised that her not wanting to have children and her not being able to have any were two different things. Earlier, it was her choice and now it was gone. While she didn't have any regrets over what she had done, she still felt sadness.

By the next day, Helen had handled and dealt with her emotions and now was looking to the positive side of things as sex now had no risk for her and she could freely enjoy it without ever worrying about getting pregnant.

XXXXX

Helen had already worked out that Wolfsbane was one of the potions she was going to modify for her mastery and knew that it would be the highlight of her trials. But she needed to modify two more potions and couldn't decide where to start. So she had approached Severus with her conundrum and they were currently working on the issue.

Severus had given Helen an idea by providing her with 1000 magical herbs and fungi to go through the ingredients to see if she could find any uncommon or unknown combination that would work. Helen had come across Gillyweed, an aquatic plant native to the Mediterranean Sea, which when eaten gave the consumer gills, allowing them to breathe underwater, and webbing between the fingers and toes, allowing them to swim underwater with ease. Potioners had created a potion of waterbreathing using this ingredient, however, it was not very efficient as it only gave a fraction of the period for water-breathing compared to the actual ingredient. The only advantage of consuming the potion over the plant was that the active period was known in the case of the potion whereas the plant gave the ability to breathe underwater for an unreliable period of time, which could be fatal if one wasn't careful. Another minor advantage was that the potion had a counter to end the effect prematurely, if desired, while one had to wait for the effect of gillyweed to be over before surfacing.

Helen got up to browse Severus' private library, looking for books that would have the instructions for brewing the potion of waterbreathing. She found one on the top shelf and had to stretch on her toes to get it. She felt Severus' gaze when her midriff was exposed, and with a smirk, she turned quickly to catch him staring at her. Severus was surprised but his eyes still lingered on her body, drinking in the sight. Feeling mischievous, Helen skipped to her seat and sat down with a hop, making sure her skirt had ridden up to expose her thighs and opened the book after crossing her legs. She glanced towards the potion master and smiled victoriously when she observed his pants tightening.

Having had her fun, Helen concentrated on the book and read through the instructions and theory behind the potion. She closed the book half an hour later, scrutinizing what she had read. Helen realised that the potion of waterbreathing could work for her as the original creator either had been lazy or had created the potion by accident, likely the latter, as the arithmancy behind it was weak, thus making the potion inefficient. She summoned a quill and a parchment and started writing out on what all could be achieved through modifications. The obvious one was the length of the effect as the potion only allowed about ten minutes of effect in its current state. Helen theorized that she could easily bring this to a full hour. Secondly was the ability to breathe in both fresh and seawater. The potion only worked in freshwater, while gillyweed worked in both fresh and seawater, albeit the effect lasted for only half the time in seawater. Helen was confident that breathing in both bodies of water was achievable as well, in separate potions if not a single one. Thirdly, was the ability to go for a deep dive, which wasn't possible using either the potion or the gillyweed. While Helen wasn't confident with this one, she thought it was theoretically possible if she worked out a way to counter the pressure at deeper levels.

Once done with the objectives, Helen summoned a few more parchments and started working on how to achieve the targets. Two hours later, she finally put the quill down, got up, and stretched to get the kinks out of her body. Her stretching again elicited the same reaction from Severus as before. Smirking a bit, she levitated the sheets and placed them on his lap for him to examine. He gave her one last lingering look and started examining her work.

Helen went to freshen up and returned ten minutes later to find Severus still examining her work. She went behind his armchair and leaned over him so that her face was right next to his and her breasts were snuggling his head in between them. Severus jumped a little at the sudden contact like he wasn't used to it, which probably was true, before concentrating back on the parchment, trying to ignore Helen's warm body. He was on the last sheet, having made a few changes in the previous ones. Once he was done, he explained his changes and Helen agreed that his corrections made the equations look more elegant, likely making the potion more efficient in terms of ingredient usage.

They discussed the theory behind the potion some more, trying to improve the work even further. Once they were satisfied that this was as good as it could get, Severus turned to face her with a proud expression, "This is excellent work. You have taken a mediocre useless potion and turned it into something worthy. Who knows, with the use of this potion, wizards might discover more about the magical flora and fauna in the deep seas. This potion will definitely count towards your potion mastery." Severus said.

With a shrewd smirk, he continued "In fact, this potion would have pleased the masters enough that you could get away with simpler modifications for the rest of your potions. However, since I know what you plan to do as your primary potion, this will have to do with a mere acknowledgment from the masters, considering that they would be busy fawning over your modified Wolfsbane."

Despite herself, Helen couldn't help feeling a bit overjoyed by the praise. She smiled genuinely at the man and heartfully replied "Thank you, Severus."

Feeling delighted, Helen decided to give the man some gratification. She looked him in the eyes, and slowly started closing the small gap between them. Severus seemed pleasantly surprised, but tilted his head slightly making it easier for Helen to capture his lips with hers. Her arms went around his shoulders to encircle him as she deepened the kiss, with Severus starting to respond as well.

They kissed for a minute before Severus broke it, making Helen wonder what guilt had once more surfaced for the raven-haired man. Instead, Severus rose from his chair, banished the parchments to his desk, and approached Helen with hunger in his eyes. Helen smirked and backed until her back hit the wall in between two shelves of books. Severus slowly approached her and placed his hands on her hip, caressing the bare skin above her skirt, effectively trapping her. He closed the gap, his chest pressing against her breasts and the rest of his body seeking her warmth. She could feel his hard iron poking at her abdomen. He leaned forward, gently brushing the side of his nose against her but still not kissing her. Helen realised he was waiting for her permission, which she gave by closing that last inch between them, recapturing his lips.

Severus eagerly started to kiss back as he moved one of his hands up from her hips and slowly slid it up her back under her top to her shoulder blades as his other hand moved to her lower back just above her bum. He pushed further into her, crushing her breasts against his chest and their groins pressed against each other. Helen let out a soft moan, opening her mouth a little, enjoying his hand movement and Severus took the opportunity to slide his tongue against her lips and into her mouth to massage her tongue, growing their passion.

Helen raised her right leg sliding along his and hooked it around his hip, making him rub against her which sent shockwaves through his body. She slid one hand around his neck to deepen the kiss further while her other hand went into his hair. Helen felt him move his hand on her lower back onto her bum under her skirt and give it a squeeze sending tingles through her as she felt his other hand move down from her shoulder blades to grab the other cheek. She adjusted her arms on his shoulders so he could take her weight easier and pushed off her standing leg up onto him and wrapping her other leg around his waist and connecting her ankles so that her head was slightly above his as Severus automatically took her weight in his arms with both hands on her bum supporting her easily.

Their new position brought them into a more intimate contact and Helen started riding him slowly, bringing both of them waves of pleasure. Feeling a bit shaky now, Severus stepped back and carried her to an armchair, their mouths still connected and he slowly sat in it, with Helen straddling him. Now, having support through her knees, Helen intensified her movements, as her hands worked on removing his shirt. Once he was topless, Helen clicked her fingers and vanished her own top and bra, not wanting to break their kiss. She held one of his hands from her bum and placed it on her breast, while her other roamed over his naked flesh, all the while she kept her motion going. Severus groaned and finally broke the kiss to trail his mouth over her neck, collarbone, and finally to her breast. He sucked at her nipple causing another shockwave to go through her body and she knew that she was close now. So, she intensified her movements further, taking him to the edge as well. As she started to come, she roughly grabbed his hair with one hand, forcefully tilting his head back to capture his mouth again while her other hand scratched at his back, leaving deep red trails from his hip to shoulder blade. This was finally too much for him, as he came with a muted groan, curtsy of Helen's tongue in his mouth.

Helen continued to ride Severus till the shockwaves from her orgasm started to recede, and finally let him go. He went limp, with his eyes unfocused, making Helen smirk as she realised that physical pain was what had finally thrown him over the edge. Helen wondered if she could make him her sub, after all, she was already his mistress, and he had sought her permission before kissing her. Seeing that he wasn't in the state to move again soon, Helen got off him and summoned her clothes. Pocketing the bra, she put her top on before donning her robe and turning back to Severus. He was looking at her in reverence, as she waved her hand cleaning the mess they had created on her uniform. Once proper, Helen leaned forward and with a coy smile, purred "Would you be kind enough to gather all the ingredients to experiment on the potion, master?"

Severus nodded, still unable to speak. Helen smiled delightfully and after pecking him once more, left with a "See you later, Severus."

XXXXX

Over the past month, Helen had been teaching Hermione about enchanting. Hermione had shown an interest in the subject after visiting the pocket dimension and Helen had provided her with a few introductory books on the subject. The brunette had shown an aptitude for the subject by finishing the books within a week and had approached Helen to teach her more. The redhead had started giving her tasks to enchant objects with simple enchantments and so far Hermione hadn't failed once. Realising that the Gryffindor had a talent for it, Helen had started her down the path of specialisation in enchanting. Her plan was that once Hermione was expert enough, she would let her look after GWC's R&D, a task that Helen felt would be perfect for Hermione as she was raised in the muggle world and thus was aware of what Helen was trying to emulate.

So far, Hermione was able to do a few enchantments on an object. Helen had decided to teach her more advanced enchanting and had given her own first enchanting project, the monitoring portal that she had installed in the forbidden corridor in the first year, to study and replicate. To say the girl had been astonished at learning that Helen had created the portal in her first year would be an understatement. She had looked at Helen with admiration for a whole day and had started working on it immediately. Right now, Hermione was sitting on the carpeted floor of Helen's room, surrounded by parchments detailing all the rune sequences on the portal, and was trying to work out how they were working in harmony with each other. Looking at her work, Helen estimated that it would take a maximum of a week for the brunette to deduce and understand the linking of the sequences and a few days more to replicate them.

Helen was already thinking about what task to give to the Gryffindor next. Her eyes shifted to the other occupant in her room who was also specialising in a branch. Padma had taken to Healing like fish to water and was studying a heavy muggle book on human physiology, provided to her by Helen herself, to understand the functions and significance of various organs in the human body. She, along with Terry were also best in potions, after Helen of course, and the three of them had often gone on to debating the effects of rare ingredients which most people hadn't even heard the name of.

Speaking of Terry, he and Padma had started dating just before the winter holidays and the pair could often be found either discussing potion theories or sucking each other's face in the common room. However, they were not the only ones who had started seeing someone. Other confirmed couples in her friend circle were Cho and Roger as well as Lisa and Anthony. The others were just trying out their options, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Micheal was turning into a casanova, as when he wasn't with Helen, he was usually with some other girl. Helen had seen him making out with at least Morag and Tracey and she was sure they weren't the only ones. Helen was also aware that Blaise had a 'friend with benefits' kind of relationship with Daphne. Susan had slept with Chester in the first week after the winter holidays and was now sleeping with one of the beaters in the Hufflepuff team. Hannah was trying to catch Neville Longbottom's eye, with him having absolutely no clue while Pansy was trying to do the same for Draco, who subtly kept avoiding her hoping that she would take the hint.

Three of her followers were becoming very good at combat magic. Blaise, Colin and Susan were her main fighters and were shaping up to be future generals, though each had a very distinct style. Colin had a style most similar to Dumbledore and herself somewhat. He was efficient with his magic and rarely wasted it, which was essential as he was the least powerful of the three, being a year younger. However, unlike herself, who liked to move around and make full use of the terrain, Colin liked to remain relatively stable and only made minimal movements to avoid spells, which again played into his maximum efficiency style of combat. He didn't waste energy, either magical or physical. He was cool, composed, and rarely riled up.

Blaise on the other hand, liked to wind up his opponents, causing them to make stupid mistakes, on which he would pounce in a flash. He was very quick, with a great reaction speed. He used that well in combination with his sharp tongue, which only caused his opponents to make more mistakes. Blaise was also the only one besides Helen who used a secondary weapon for close combat scenarios. He wielded a rapier quite proficiently and as he had gained physical strength he had started to maneuver it much better. Helen planned for him to perform the Nahuatl body strengthening ritual, without troll's blood modifications, within a few days to help him with his sword work. In fact, she had made her inner circle perform quite a few rituals to give them advantages over their peers. While Blaise wasn't a member of her inner circle yet, Helen planned on making him one during the summer break.

Susan, who would also be marked before the summer, was turning into the most vicious fighter of all her followers. In only over a month, she had learned more painful curses than Blaise knew at all. She was also the most powerful of her followers and was benefiting greatly from the rituals Helen had made her do. Helen could already see glimpses of Bellatrix in her as she too liked inflicting pain on her opponents and Helen was sure that Susan would be very capable of surpassing the Black daughter in sheer strength and passion, as well as vindictiveness. However, unlike Bellatrix, Susan still had her wits about her and had a mind for strategy, something that was lacking in Bellatrix. So while she enjoyed causing pain, she didn't play with her victims. She would become a perfect torturer for Helen in the future. Also, like any Hufflepuff, she was very loyal to the hand that fed her, that being Helen, the one who had rescued her and given her a family.

All in all, Helen's group was improving day by day and was already well past their peers in skill and strength. And that was true not only for her inner circle but for the rest of her followers as well.

XXXXX

Everyone in Hogwarts was really excited for the next set of the house Quidditch matches, as they were going to be broadcasted all across the UK on the GWC network. The sale of Display Screens or DSs had started in the first week of January and they were selling like hotcakes in winter. In fact, for the first week, the shops were sold out each day within an hour of opening.

Due to their huge success, GWC had immediately taken over as the prime media outlet, leaving the newspapers like Daily Prophet and magazines like Witches Weekly behind in the dust. The radio was the worst hit and the WWN was on the verge of shutdown, especially after Howard had poached all the best presenters for GWC. Utilizing this fact, Adrastia had penned agreements with various ministries so that there would never be a legal issue with their monopoly, in return the GWC would inform the ministries of any major news before it broke out to the public. However, the wordings of the agreements were such that it didn't stop them from reporting the news or even delaying it. As a sweetener, GWC had provided the ministry with giant screens, free of cost, to be installed within their buildings as well as other significant places such as hospitals, markets, etc. The British MoM now had four of them in its atrium. Even Hogwarts had received five of them, one for the great hall and four smaller ones for each of the common rooms.

All the success of the company had caused everyone to wonder about the mysterious owner. It wasn't long before Helen's name got out. To counter the frenzy, Helen had already pre-recorded an interview with the lead anchor of the GWC news network. It was aired the very evening her name got out.

*Flashback*

For the interview, Helen had worn an elegant navy blue evening gown with an off-shoulder boat neckline that showed only a hint of cleavage. On screen, Denver Martins, the lead anchor of GWC news introduced and welcomed her, both being very candid. In reality, the interview was a controlled affair, with all the questions selected and vetted by Helen, Howard, and Adrastia. They sat in regal armchairs with a coffee table in between and Martins told the audience a bit of the background and history of Helen Lilian Potter.

"So, Helen, tell me, How did you arrive at the idea of starting Global Wizarding Communications? How was the idea born?" Martins asked.

Helen faked a fond smile and replied, "Actually Denver, the idea of GWC was a brainchild of Gilderoy Lockhart. Howard and I only got onto the project once he included us for some reason we still don't know." Helen and Adrastia had decided to use Lockhart's name again to gain more publicity.

She continued, "Originally Gilderoy owned the majority of the GWC. However, after his heroic but untimely demise, I became the majority owner, because he had left me everything in his will."

Martins stated, "He must have seen something in you as my sources tell me that he had taken you as an unofficial apprentice and was trying to make it official before the unfortunate event." The second part was a lie, but only Helen and Adrastia knew that. The unofficial apprentice was a rumor that had started within Hogwarts last year, which Helen had encouraged.

"That is true. Gilderoy taught me a lot of what I know. And not just on magic, but about everything from how to manage expectations to fashion, from how to judge the nature of people to how to enjoy the small things in life. I'm very thankful to Gilderoy Lockhart, for without him I wouldn't be the woman I'm today." Helen lied through her teeth. Although come to think of it, the last statement was true, after all, he did make her a woman, just before she carved his heart out and ate it.

After a few more questions Martins changed the subject. "People and researchers have been curious, how does the Display Screens or the DS work? I've been made aware that you have invented the revolutionary gadget."

"It is true that I did invent the DS and the cameras, however, I couldn't have done it without Howard's input. He had such confidence in my ability that he quit his previous job to focus completely on this project. I'm just glad that I was able to repay his trust in me." Helen answered tactfully without revealing any real details.

A few questions later Martins asked about the direction GWC would take in the future.

"Well, I'm really excited to talk about this. We have recently received permission to broadcast school-level Quidditch matches from all the major European schools. Apart from that, we will also cover the Annual Broom Race in Romania. Most importantly, however, soon we are starting a show based on the life and adventures of Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Oh, well I for one can't wait for that." Martins replied excitedly.

Helen continued, "Yes, you and everyone else. Also, I'm most excited about a new product that we have under development. I can't talk about it too much, but I can tell you that it will revolutionize the way wizards communicate forever."

"Revolutionize the way we communicate, that sounds very ambitious. When can we see this product?"

"If all goes well, it will probably be launched within a year, less even."

They talked further about the impact GWC had on the world before the interview inevitably turned to her personal life. Adrastia had advised Helen to include those, as that way Helen could control what was out in the media. Thus the anchor stated that she was the most desirable girl in the wizarding world and people would try for her hand in matrimony.

"Well, Denver, I'm only fifteen and in school, I'm more worried about my grades. A potential suitor is the last thing on my mind right now. However, I'm in a steady relationship, so I hope that I'm shown some courtesy and that people don't bombard me with marriage proposals. I also feel the need to remind people that my family has not had an arranged marriage for over a century, and I see no reason to kill that tradition. I would also like to remind everyone that all my mail is thoroughly checked for curses, potions, and enchantments before it reaches me and that my legal team has filed several lawsuits for line theft when they found love potions in my mail." It was true too as a few stupid European families had tried to rope her into a marriage. Thankfully no one in England was that stupid, as punishment for line theft in Britain was much more severe.

The interview carried on for a few more minutes before Martins thanked her for her time, ending the interview.

*End flashback*

XXXXX

It was the day of the Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff match. The Gryffindor vs Slytherin was a high-scoring match with both sets of chasers displaying excellent attacking form. The game was neck to neck when Ginny had caught the snitch ending the match at 300-170 in favor of the lions. That defeat had effectively left Slytherin out of contention for the Quidditch Cup as they now sat at an aggregate point difference of -320. Gryffindor however, were still second behind Ravenclaw, despite winning both their matches as their first match was even closer and they had only won because Cedric had stopped playing due to the presence of the Dementors.

All that meant was that the match between Ravens and the Badgers could potentially decide the winners of the Quidditch cup if the Ravens won the match by any decent margin, or it could throw the league wide open if the Badgers won by a huge margin.

As a result of the huge potential of the match, Hufflepuff started the game quite defensively, deploying the tactic the Ravens had used against the Snakes. It was a poor choice, as the Ravens knew how to break a defensive wall. They crowded one side of the field, forcing the yellow team to reinforce that end. Once the extra chaser or beater went to defend on the crowded side, the ravens would play a long quaffle to the spare chaser, who had space wide open in front of them to quickly approach the keeper. Within fifteen minutes the Ravens led 50-0 when Cedric called a time-out. Immediately after the timeout it was evident that Cedric had changed his team's tactics and they started playing a fast-paced possession-based game with attack on their mind. Cedric would also occasionally help out his chasers. This opened the game up and it became a free-scoring spectacle, very entertaining to watch but very nervous for the players. Forty-five minutes into the game the score stood 130-70 in favor of Ravenclaw.

Helen had been flying in loops looking for the snitch which had yet to show itself. She did occasionally dive towards the oppositions to cause a distraction, but mostly kept her focus on searching for the elusive golden ball.

As she flew by the Gryffindor goals, she was distracted by an unusual sight. Right below the edge of the stands, there was a dog watching the game. It was skinny but big with a shaggy black coat. What was surprising was that the dog seemed to follow the match, its head moved with the quaffle passes and its tail wagged whenever her team scored. It reminded Helen of someone but she couldn't pinpoint it.

However, her distraction was her undoing as the snitch took that moment to show up. And it showed up on the other end of the pitch where Cedric was hovering. Helen gave chase but knew it was futile as Cedric was already closing in on it and soon had it in his grasp, ending the match at 220-140 Hufflepuff.

Helen flew towards Cedric to congratulate him and then landed quickly as his teammates surrounded him, cheering loudly. She glanced towards where the dog was and found that it was gone. Disappointed, Helen trudged towards the locker room for a shower and change, having not caught the snitch for the first time, while her teammates tried to cheer her up, reminding her that the snitch showed up on the other end of the pitch near Cedric and that it could happen to anyone, it wasn't her fault.

The defeat had blown open the league with the Lions now leading with 150, the Ravens second with 110 and the Badgers third at 60 points. Since the last match was between Lions and Ravens, the only chance for Badgers to win the league was to dominate the Snakes utterly and hope for a close match between the teams of red and blue, which was a possibility as both the teams were evenly matched.

Later that night, Helen was looking at the map when Sirius Black's name appeared on the edge of the forbidden forest near the whomping willow. Helen extracted herself from Cedric's and Hermione's arms, making sure they were fast asleep. She suppressed an amused snort as both her lovers shifted seeking warmth and unconsciously spooned with Cedric on the outside. Shaking her head, Helen donned her Invisibility Cloak before quickly making her way to the grounds. The map showed that Black was still near Hagrid's cabin, slowly moving towards the main gate. Helen slowly reached within a hundred yards of him and got confirmation of her suspicion. Sirius Black was the dog from earlier and he was an animagus. Quietly Helen put the map in her pocket, however before she could proceed any further the wind suddenly changed, now blowing from behind her towards the dog animagus.

Black took one sniff, realising he wasn't alone, and immediately bolted towards the forest. Helen cursed under her breath, knowing that she couldn't do anything now, considering she was not ten feet from Hagrid's cabin and any spell from her would alert the half-giant. Disappointed, she made her way back to the castle but now knew how Sirius Black was sneaking into the castle and how he had remained undetected so far.

Helen soon got another chance to catch Black during the next Hogsmeade visit, which was only a few days later. She, Cedric, and Hermione were just roaming randomly in the village, enjoying each other's company when Helen spotted him again, with his nose in a garbage can, probably trying to find some food. Helen quickly cast disillusionment and scent-covering charms on all three of them and quietly told her partners to back away. She then slowly approached the dog from behind and when she was only a couple of feet away, quickly stunned him. She cancelled the charms and called Cedric and Hermione over before casting a notice-me-not charm over the area.

Helen explained the situation and told them to cover for her as she was going to take him away. Summoning a stick from the ground, she turned it into a portkey and whipped the idiot dog animagus to Potter Manor. She brought him down to the dungeon into an empty storage unit and forced him to turn back into human form. Black looked like shit, with dirt covering every inch of his body that wasn't covered by tattered rages. She summoned the wand he was carrying and levitated him to the far wall. A bit of transfiguration later, he was suspended spread-eagled from manacles. Satisfied, she rennervated him.

XXXXX

Sirius woke with a groan, feeling like he had been hit by the Knight's bus. He tried to rub his forehead only to find that his hands were restrained. As soon as he realised that his eyes snapped open only to see a dark room. He tried moving his legs and found them to be bound as well. He tried shifting into his animagus form but that failed as well, making him realise that his captor knew of his hidden talent. Desperately he looked around the dark room for an escape route, only to find nothing he could use.

However, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a shape in a darker corner of the room. As soon as the shape realised it had his attention, it moved only to turn out to be a woman. A fine woman at that, with a perfect figure accentuated by sexy muggle clothes. His eyes traveled up from her long bare legs to skirt-covered hips. There was a narrow gap between the skirt and the top, giving a teasing glimpse of her smooth bare stomach, while the top was snug over her breasts and left her arms bare.

However, as soon as Sirius reached her face, all thoughts of perversion blew out of his mind. The green eyes surrounded by red hair were looking at him in disappointment. Very familiar green eyes. The same eyes, whose glare had straightened him out several times during and after Hogwarts, when even McGonagall's glare couldn't.

Lily was looking at him in displeasure and she made it known as she scowled, "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

He mumbled, "I'm so…sorry…"

"Speak up!" she snapped.

He sniffled before answering clearly, owing to his failures, "I'm sorry. I have disappointed you. I'm a failure and I couldn't even protect your daughter." He looked back at her through his tears, awaiting his sentence, as he was sure that he had died and this was the afterlife.

Lily looked confused for a second before she facepalmed for some reason. He was about to ask what was wrong when she cast a spell and the room lit up.

Walking closer to him, she ordered, "Sirius, look at me."

But he was looking at her, he thought confused. He was about to ask what she was talking about when he saw something peculiar. Sirius had been friends with James since before Hogwarts so he was familiar with Potter's facial feathers. This Lily had the sharp jaw and high cheekbones of the Potters. However, that was not possible as he remembered her having softer, more delicate feathers. Then he looked at her hair and realised it wasn't the same shade as Lily's as well, they were a much darker shade. Suddenly, his eyes widened as it clicked.

"He…Helen?" he whispered in disbelief.

"Finally!" Helen said, rolling her eyes at Sirius' ineptitude. She conjured a seat and primly sat in it crossing her legs. In Sirius' mind, that action solidified that the woman in front of him wasn't Lily, Helen's mother was never that sophisticated.

Her sharp voice reminded Sirius of his current situation and stopped his wool-gathering, "Now, care to explain what the hell were you doing at Hogwarts? With half the Azkaban dementors looking for you there?! Your explanation better be good."

The situation reminded Sirius of being called to the floor by Lady Potter after he and James had gotten into trouble. He instinctively answered truthfully.

"I was looking for Peter Pettigrew. He's the one…"

"...who betrayed my parents, I know." Helen completed his sentence for him.

Sirius was completely taken aback, "But how…?"

"It doesn't matter how I know that. What matters is why you thought it was a good idea for you to come to Hogwarts for him? Your rash actions have already landed you in Azkaban once. Do you want the dementors to finish the job?" Helen asked pointedly, an eyebrow raised.

He mumbled weakly, "I wanted to protect you…"

"And yet here we are, with you bound in my dungeon. Great job!" Helen smirked mirthlessly, reminding him of his own family, at least the older generations, who were notoriously sarcastic and could twist your own words against you, constantly making you feel like a fool.

After letting Sirius think about his actions for a few moments, Helen asserted her will over him, "Now this is what you are going to do. I'll transport you to the Potter Isle in the Azores and you'll stay there in the pleasant weather and the sun, recovering from your ordeal. You will not leave the Isle until you have recovered completely AND until I say so. Is that clear?"

The steel in her voice made it clear to him that there was to be no argument there, so he nodded meekly.

At his nod, she stood up, vanished the chair and his shackles, making him fall to the ground. However, she caught him and then, to his surprise, hugged him gently, speaking softly "Welcome back, Godfather."

He hugged her back gingerly, before she pulled back, making a face, "Now, get out of here. You stink."

Sirius was still laughing when he was whisked away by a house elf.

Love the words of appreciation. Thanks to all the well wishers.

Love you 1saaa. Our readers certainly do, as you make this readable for them.